When I was a kid I really wanted to be a pirate (actually I was probably nearly twenty one when I first got this notion into my head…) I could live on a boat with the sea as my home and travel where ever the great winds would take me. I would have swash-buckling adventures, […] More »
Looking for an adventurous and educational holiday to beat the winter blues? Why not tour the chaos and misery of the mess Texaco Oil left behind in the Amazon Basin. For the last fifteen years Chevron Corp, which acquired Texaco Oil in 2001, has been in a deadlock legal battle with the citizens of Lago […] More »
Lately, it seems everyone is talking about slumdog millionaire. I haven’t seen it, but I’ve been assured it is the thing to do. Having recently returned from a little overseas adventure of my own, I’ve been thinking a lot about slums. What does it mean to live in a slum? Or a compound, a favela, […] More »
Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson totally nailed it in Thursday night’s monologue on the U.S. election campaign (run time: 8:45): In it, Ferguson delivers a passionate criticism of media election coverage, voter apathy and the circus around Sarah Palin. I hope a lot of people see it, especially the part where he says he […] More »
Today in Nepal, voting began for a new constituent assembly that may well chart a radically different course for the Himalayan country. The election comes after more than 10 years of warfare waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The main parties squaring off are the Maoists, the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist […] More »
Two interesting, perhaps ominous developments on the “will they bomb Iran” front: On March 11, Admiral William Fallon resigned as head of the U.S. Central Command. Fallon opposed a military strike on Iran and the word in the halls of power is that his exit may indicate an intention on behalf of Bush and Co. […] More »
The Dalai Lama – I am sooo sick of this guy. Commenting on the recent protests in Tibet, the Dalai Lama criticized the Chinese government for, among other things, the “politicization of religious issues.” Really?! This, coming from a man who is revered as a God-King, who once technically legally owned everything and every person […] More »
On December 5, 2002, Dilawar, a young Afghan taxi driver, was arrested, handed over to US troops and taken to Bagram Air Force Base for interrogation. 5 days later he was dead. In his five days in that dungeon, he was hooded, chained to the ceiling of his cell, and beaten repeatedly. His legs were […] More »
I am caged in this corner full of melancholy and sorrow … my wings are closed and I cannot fly … I am an Afghan woman and so must wail. – Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet, murdered by her husband in 2005. One hundred and sixty-five. That’s how many Afghan women set themselves on fire in […] More »
For the past twenty years, the Chinese state has been luring foreign capital to their country with the promise of cheap wages, abundant natural resources, good infrastructure, and a massive internal market. The hope is that the flows of foreign cash will spur development that will vault China into developed-country-status by 2050. The problem, as […] More »
Today marks the 12th anniversary of the initiation of the revolution in Nepal. Led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the revolution, called a “People’s War” by its proponents, began with sporadic actions in Nepal’s isolated rural areas in 1996 and now sees the rebels controlling 80% of the country. Mystifyingly ignored by North […] More »